Our Lady Peace has been one busy band in the brief 14
months between the release of ‘Happiness… Is Not A Fish
That You Can Catch’ and their new disc, ‘Spiritual
Machines.’ In that short period OLP kicked off two national
tours of Canada; played extensive U.S. and European gigs;
made appearances at events including the MuchMusic
Video Awards and the Junos; participated in webchats with
fans; worked on various side projects and - perhaps most
importantly - found time for a little extracurricular reading. In
fact, the array of events and experiences the guys packed
in go a long way in explaining the creative spark that fuels
‘Spiritual Machines.’
The album title is taken from Ray Kurzweil's book, ‘The Age
of Spiritual Machines – When Computers Exceed Human
Intelligence.’ While on the road, Mike stumbled upon the
piece and quickly became inspired by Kurzweil’s potent
words. The book describes a world where the line between
humanity and technology fades, and the computer
ultimately becomes our teacher, companion and lover in a
blur of man meets machine.
The energy Mike derived from reading Ray Kurzweil’s work
led to Raine ’s eventual investigation of the book. Since
then, both Jeremy and Duncan have been absorbing
Kurzweil’s ideas through their bandmate’s fascination with
the book. Kurzweil’s impact is not only evident in the title of
Our Lady Peace’s new album, but also with the band’s
work itself.
"Lyrically, this album is about finding the spirituality within
ourselves," explains Raine. The lyrics he brought to this
new record draw upon many of Ray Kurzweil’s theories and
hint at the blurring distinction between humans and
computers. "The lyrics for the track ‘In Repair’ focus upon
how people tend to treat each other as machines in our
day-to-day life. We really need to take stock and focus our
energy towards those in our lives that matter. Sometimes it
seems as if we need an oil change," concedes Raine.
Mike explains his initial interest in Kurzweil "set the mental
framework among us as a band for the recording of this
album." To even further this Kurzweil connection, the band
personally contacted Ray and a correspondence developed.
After these initial communications, Kurzweil agreed to
appear on the album to contribute some of his own
readings.
Listening to ‘Spiritual Machines,’ it’s obvious that Ray
Kurzweil’s ideas lit a creative spark within Our Lady Peace.
This album is the unmistakable product of a band on fire.
The passion and ideas behind this album will take fans from
Happiness..., into the future and beyond.
Original Rocknworld bio from 1998
Our
Lady Peace was formed in Toronto by Mike Turner and Raine Maida in 1992.
Their name came from a Poem by American poet Mark Van Doren. Mike and Raine
recruited Chris Eacrett and seventeen year old Jeremy Taggart to complete
the band.
They
started out by pressing a 3 song demo, and passing copies around to label
reps at a The New York CMJ music conference in 1993. Although a few labels
showed interest, the band decided to go with Sony Music Canada, and released
their debut Naveed in 1994.
They
then landed a deal with Relativity records for a US distribution deal for
Naveed.
The followed that release up with an exhaustive 2 year tour, playing with
such artist as Bush, Van Halen, Page and Plant, Matthew Sweet, Elastica,
Letters to Cleo and Alanis Morissette.
Following
the tour, with Duncan Coutts replacing Chris Eacrett on Bass, they went
back into the studio and recorded Clumsy which was released in early
1997.
Credits:Facts
were taken from the Official
Unofficial Our Lady of Peace Page
Written
by Keavin Wiggins (Managing Editor)
